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A Tribute to
Jimmy Buffett
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Are you a Parrothead?
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Profession:
Musician,
Writer
Date of Birth:
December 25, 1946
Place of Birth:
Passcogoula, Mississippi
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Bio:
It's fitting that
Jimmy Buffett was born on Christmas Day. You see, in Jimmy Buffett's world,
every day is a holiday. His music has long offered a vision of island getaways,
fun in the sun and nary a care in the world. Several generations
of devoted fans have turned Buffett into a one-man cult phenomenon. As
the Grateful Dead has "Deadheads," Jimmy Buffett has "Parrotheads." |
| But before he became
the epitome of the laid back beachcomber, Buffett had a brief career as
a laid back country musician. He grew up in the deep South, spending time
in both Alabama and Mississippi. While attending Southern Mississippi University,
he became a popular fraternity member while honing his musical skills. |
| After college, Buffett
moved to Nashville in 1970, where he recorded and eventually released a
folk/country record called Down to Earth. It came and went almost entirely
unnoticed. He struggled in Nashville for several more years before chucking
it all (a theme on many of the records to come) and moving to Key West.
This is where he adopted the personality of the dissolute gentleman beach
bum who wrote songs like:
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| White Sport Coat
and a Pink Crustacean, released in 1973, began drawing in the first "Parrotheads."
Over the next four years, he released four more albums, each one building
on the cult popularity of the last. By now, his shows were filled with
followers in Hawaiian shirts. |
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| In 1977, Changes
in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes broke him into the mainstream with "Margaritaville."
The next year's "Son of a Son of a Sailor" introduced fans to "Cheeseburger
in Paradise. |
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| Through the 80s,
Buffett continued releasing records, wisely never straying from his beachy
formula. By the end of the decade, he was looking to branch out into new
enterprises. He opened a string of clubs, started a beach clothing line,
and even stopped partying long enough to write several collections of fiction. |
| Buffett currently
lives in Palm Beach, Florida. Besides enjoying mellow good times, his pastimes
include sailing and flying airplanes, and he remains an outspoken environmental
activist. He continues to release records at the pace of about one a year,
with the most recent entitled, Beach House on the Moon. |
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Jimmy Buffett
also has a string of restaurants; "Jimmy
Buffet's Margaritaville"
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